May is Elder Abuse Prevention Month and the Department of Family and Protective Services is reminding the community to report it if they see it.
According to DFPS Rio Grande Valley statistics, of the 143,306 adults 65 years and older 2,517 of those are confirmed cases of abuse by Adult Protective Services standards in 2013.
John Lennan, regional spokesman for the DFPS, said the Rio Grande Valley has a large elderly population.
“A lot of people don’t know that the Valley has a really big elderly population,” Lennan said. “That is why it’s important to get the word out.”
According to APS, the agency that investigates these cases in adults 65 years or older, abuse may cause various injuries such as scratches, cuts, bruises, burns, broken bones or bedsores. It can also result in confinement, rape or sexual misconduct, and verbal or psychological abuse.
“Everyone needs to know how to recognize the signs of abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation and to report them when you see them,” said Beth Engelking, assistant commissioner for Adult Protective Services at DFPS. “We also need community resources to help the people who are older or who have disabilities when they can no longer help themselves.”
Neglect may cause starvation, dehydration, over- or under-medication, unsanitary living conditions and lack of personal hygiene. Neglected adults may also not have heat, running water, electricity or medical care.
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Agency calls attention to elderly abuse
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Congress promised to protect the elderly. Where are our public servants now? Who are they taking care of besides themselves?
Now, through the magic of public guardianship, Adult Protective Services can cut out the middle man and just abuse and neglect the elderly itself.
Gail Nardi, the head of Adult Protective Services for the Commonwealth of Virginia, summed up the attitude of our public officials best when she breezily observed that "only 20%" of adult abuse and neglect occurs in facilities.
Janet James, Esquire, public guardianship coordinator for the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, maintains that the two largest guardianship programs under her "supervision" and "oversight," Jewish Family Service of Tidewater and Catholic Charities of Eastern Virginia, can't possibly be expected to determine exactly how many victims they dumped into the dangerous, filthy adult homes with 400 people operated by the notorious Scott Schuett -- in one case in direct violation of a court order. It's just too complicated to come up with a body count, what with meaningless conferences to attend, self-important speeches to give, and glossy plaques to present.
Amy Marschean, Esquire directly covers up the neglect and abuse suffered by these victims, even going so far as to coach members of the Virginia Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board to ignore any and all complaints from members of the public, including concerned family members.
Kathy Pryor of the Virginia Poverty Law Center really can't comment on what happens when the hand-picked guardian ad litem "for" an incapacitated person obstructs her putative "client" from attending a court hearing, from testifying on her own behalf, or from obtaining representation by an attorney, all rights guaranteed BY LAW.
James Rothrock, head of DARS, maliciously defames any honest attorney who dares to step out of line and question his agency's systematic mistreatment and violation of the clear, established legal rights of the elderly and disabled.
And then, all of these public officials and public agencies and "non-profits" demand more public funding, to carry on this systematic abuse and neglect.
How much better off would these victims be if we just de-funded these public agencies that stand in the way of the health, safety, and well-being of the elderly and disabled?
I wonder how often APS gets involved in established guardianship cases?
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